Always
by jadedcutie494
Summary: A look at the history of Lucas and Peyton, from Haley's point of view. Oneshot


**Always**

Disclaimer: Don't own it. If I had, Season 5 basically wouldn't have happened...

A/N: Alright, I promise I'm working on my other stories, I really am, and I know I shouldn't be writing oneshots, but this just sort of popped into my head and wouldn't leave, so I hope you enjoy it...

_Lucas Scott._

That name means a lot to me. It has since I was young, since the first time I saw him, and we became best friends. I always looked up to Lucas, I still do in some ways. In other ways, he's fallen short in my eyes and I've looked down on him. But then, I always feel guilty when I yell at him. Because I know why he's made the mistakes he has. I've made them for the same reasons, and he's never looked down on me. He's made them because he's been in love and because he's been scared.

I've watched it happen for the last 6 years, since that night everything changed, the night he and Nathan battled it out on the Rivercourt.

No, that's no right. It started before that, at least a few days. It's been so long I can't remember, but it started the night she almost hit him with her car.

_Peyton Sawyer._

That name also means a lot to me. I've known her for 6 years, and for some reason when things have happened, I've looked down on Lucas more than her. Maybe it's because I know how much she's been through and how much she needed his love. Or maybe it's simply because I've known him longer, so I've expected more from him for longer.

I don't really know, all I do know is that for these two, it _always_ comes back to each other.

So, as I was saying, that night she almost hit him with her car. I saw him at the cafe that night, he was in an unusually good mood, and it wasn't until later that I found out he'd seen Peyton. He's had a crush on her since the beginning of freshman year, although he denies it, and that night was when it all started to change. I think that was the first night she really saw him, and then the next day, or was it two days later, I don't remember, but pretty soon after that night, they had their first conversation.

I remember talking to Keith about it, he was telling me how Lucas brought in her car when all he needed to do was add water to something... or something. Peyton is the only girl who's made Lucas act like that, then or now.

The first time I was them interact was that night at the Rivercourt, after the game. Everyone was congratulating him, but he walked away from them, up to her, and I watched them while they talked. I saw it, even then, even when she was with Nathan. There was something there.

They started getting closer, and I thought they were going to get together, but then I looked and there was Lucas, with _Brooke._ Don't get me wrong, though, Brooke's great, but I just couldn't figure it out. But Lucas wanted me to trust him, and he'd tried to be understanding of Nathan, so I did.

But then I caught them in the library. Lucas and Peyton, not Lucas and Brooke. So what did I do? I yelled at him, I was so mad that my friend, my Lucas, could've done that. Of all the guys, not him. I was so mad, and then that call came that he was in the hospital, and do you know what my first reaction was? To call Peyton. Which is what I did. I called Peyton. And less than an hour later she was my door, wanting to make sure I was ok. I could see the pain in her eyes, but she stayed away because of Brooke. Funny how I was staying away because of her, but seeing her there, I couldn't be mad at her, or him. I just needed him to wake up.

I was happy when he broke things off with Brooke when he woke up, but then Peyton broke things off with him and I watched him crumble.

I'm glad I bought him at the boytoy auction, I missed spending time with him. But he was still sad. It might not have been visible to anyone else, but it was to me. And I watched as Peyton grew closer to Jake, and Lucas grew closer to no one.

Then I left. I don't know exactly what happened while I was gone, it was too hard to think about everyone in Tree Hill when I was on tour. Even Lucas, who didn't judge, who was just there for me. And then he turned up in New York, with Brooke.

I didn't see that coming.

I came back for the summer, and while I wasn't really around much, I wasn't really good company, I saw Lucas and Peyton together and I thought that this summer would be good for them.

Boy was I wrong.

Instead, summer ended and he started fighting for Brooke, trying to win her over, to get her to be exclusive. I watched him try and try as I moved in with Brooke, growing closer to him. She was my friend, and I knew he'd hurt her, but even then I didn't see it lasting. She didn't trust him, and while she was making him fight for her, she wasn't fighting for him. He was so upset when he found her and Chris in bed together. I remember comforting Brooke when she told Peyton and I what had happened, and I felt so bad for her, because I could remember the way Chris was. But then I saw Lucas, and he was crushed. I'd watched him try so hard to win her trust and prove he was the one for her, and I could see that to him, it was if she'd taken all of that and just thrown it back in his face.

And he forgave her. Unlike her with him and Peyton the year before, he forgave her after only a few days. He tried to hurt her, but he couldn't, not really. If he's hurting, he can be vindictive, but it never lasts, and he hates himself for it afterwards. So he forgave her, and I watched their relationship while trying to mend my own. I listened to him time and again as he told me about fights they'd had, not surprisingly more often than not, they were about trust or Peyton or both. I love Brooke, she's one of my best friends, and she was even back then, but as I watched, I was waiting for the end.

I knew the beginning of the end started the day Jimmy brought the gun to school. Lucas started to shut down, started to push Brooke away, and I saw them, him and Peyton, heading for the library 

the night of the party in the school. I remember thinking how strange it was, but also normal, that he would be able to open up to Peyton, and not Brooke who was his girlfriend, his _one_.

The weekend we spent in the woods, I thought things were getting more on track for them, but then he and his mum left town, and he didn't call Brooke, and I knew this was it. All they would need would be something, or someone, to spark it off and it would be over.

Unfortunately, that thing came the day before my wedding. It wasn't until much later, after graduation, that I found out that Peyton had confessed to Brooke the night of the play that she still loved Lucas, and that Brooke had slapped her.

I didn't know that Brooke had broken up with Lucas for a few days, I had been too preoccupied with Nathan. But, when I found out I wasn't surprised. I was surprised when Brooke told me what had happened; Lucas had once again kissed Peyton, and once again, I was beyond pissed.

I remember yelling at him again at the party at Rachel's. She'd been hitting on Nathan again, and so when I saw Lucas talking to some girl, I snapped. He was so confused, and then so angry. Then he told me that the kiss had been the day of the shooting, when Peyton had almost died, and I thought I was going to cry. At least he hadn't ended up in a coma again like the first time.

After that, I sat back and watched and waited. I saw him trying to win Brooke back, her brushing him off, and I watched as he and Peyton slowly grew closer again, spending more and more time together.

Finally, the night we won the State Championships, I saw Lucas truly happy again. I saw a smile on his face I hadn't seen in over a year. I'd seen a ghost of it in the months he'd been with Brooke, but when he introduced Peyton as his girlfriend to me in the cafe, that smile was back, and I saw it mirrored in Peyton's face, and I knew. I'd always thought it, but that moment, when they were together, and were able to say it in public, I'd never seen either so happy and I knew it was be those two, always.

They had their rough patches, all couples do, and as usual Lucas closed himself off when things got hard, but she was able to open him, he couldn't stay away too long.

Then things changed. One night he showed up at my doorstop, and that smile was gone. He'd been so happy the last time I saw him, and I knew they had won their game, but suddenly it was like the light had gone from him.

It took a while, but I finally managed to get the story out of him; he had proposed, and Peyton hadn't said yes. She hadn't said no, but she hadn't said yes.

So I watched as Lucas threw himself into his work, coaching and writing, and I watched the romance start ever so slowly between him and Lindsey. I knew, like I knew that night in the cafe, that this wouldn't last.

When Peyton came back to Tree Hill, I started to count down the days. I admit, my confidence was thrown a little when he proposed to Lindsey, when the wedding started being planned, even when the day of the wedding was around the corner.

But then I read his book. After almost two years of being stuck, he'd suddenly written another novel. And as soon as I read the story about the boy and the comet, my fears were gone. No 

matter what was happening in my life at that moment, I was sure that everything would be ok. For Lucas and Peyton, for me and Nathan, and for all our friends. He denied it, but he didn't fool me.

I'd never been prouder of Lindsey then when she stood on that altar and let herself accept that he loved Peyton.

I watched him, once again, crumble from another failed relationship. He threw himself into work, was drinking, and once again, I started to lose faith when I heard he had told Peyton he hated her.

I guess I shouldn't have. I guess I should've had faith in the relationship I'd watched grow, and in my best friend, too. But I never lost all of that faith, not quite. I know that because when I got the message from Lucas, at the same time Brooke received an identical one from Peyton, I knew they would be alright.

Although, I don't think anything could have prepared me for the ring on Peyton's finger when I next saw them. Though, I guess considering the history of these two, I should've been prepared for anything. At least they didn't get married, not that I'm one to talk considering Lucas wasn't at my first wedding. But still, I'm glad I'll get to be there to witness them getting married.

Since the first time I saw them together, I've been waiting for this day to arrive. It may have taken a lot longer than I expected initially, but I always knew some day, they'd make it here, to this point, ready to spend a lifetime together.

Because with these two, it always comes down to each other. No one has ever come between these two, and nothing can keep them apart for long.

She's his always, and he's hers.


End file.
